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Method and apparatus for diffusion based cell placement migration

a cell placement and diffusion-based technology, applied in the field of cell placement, can solve the problems of physical design not being practicable without the aid of computers, affecting the design of integrated circuits, and disrupting the original cell placement more than is optimally desired,

Inactive Publication Date: 2007-06-21
GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] In one aspect, the present invention is a method of placing cells in an integrated circuit design. The method includes the step of defining grid locations for the design, the grid locations having a predetermined size and shape. The method also includes the step of calculating a density value for the grid locations according to the number of cell

Problems solved by technology

Due to the large number of components and the exacting details required by the fabrication process, physical design is not practical without the aid of computers.
A placement is considered “illegal” if cells overlap or fail to align with circuit rows.
Although these techniques accomplish the legalization of the cell placement, they do so at a cost that disrupts the original cell placement more than is optimally desired.

Method used

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  • Method and apparatus for diffusion based cell placement migration
  • Method and apparatus for diffusion based cell placement migration
  • Method and apparatus for diffusion based cell placement migration

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Embodiment Construction

[0022] The present invention is a method, apparatus, and computer program product that use the principles of diffusion for cell placement in an integrated circuit design. More specifically, the present invention implements a diffusion based model, as described herein, that moves each cell a small amount during a given time period (step) according to its local density gradient. As the number of times the diffusion process is followed increases, the placement proceeds closer towards equilibrium.

[0023] The present invention is described below in connection with cell placement migration techniques in order to facilitate the ease with which the present invention can be explained and understood. It is not, however, to be considered a limitation on the applicability of diffusion method to other cell placement techniques.

[0024] Cell placement is considered “illegal” if cells overlap or fail to align with specified circuit rows. The term “legalization” describes the process of taking an il...

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Abstract

A method, apparatus, and computer program product for cell placement in an integrated circuit design that use the principles of diffusion.

Description

BACKGROUND [0001] 1. Technical Field of the Present Invention [0002] The present invention generally relates to the design of integrated circuits, and more specifically, to the placement of cells within the design. [0003] 2. Description of Related Art [0004] Integrated circuits have a large number of electronic components (millions of transistors) and are fabricated using several layers of different materials placed on a silicon base or wafer. The design of an integrated circuit involves transforming a description of the electrical components into geometrical representations known as a layout. The layout has a set of planar geometric shapes in each of the various layers of materials. [0005] The process of transforming the description of the electrical components into a layout is called the physical design. Physical design involves arranging elements, wires, and predefined cells on a fixed area. Due to the large number of components and the exacting details required by the fabricatio...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): G06F17/50
CPCG06F17/5072G06F30/392
Inventor ALPERT, CHARLES JAYREN, HAOXINGVILLARRUBIA, PAUL GERARD
Owner GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC